The M.Th. Houtsma Foundation is named after Professor Martinus Theodorus Houtsma (1851-1943),
who was professor of Hebrew and Israelitish antiquities in Utrecht University from 1890 till 1917.
He was one of the initiators of the 'Encyclopaedia of Islam' project, and editor-in-chief of the first edition
of this pivotal collective enterprise in the field of Islamic Studies
in the West.

As a student of M.J. de Goeje (1836-1909) he continued the 19th-century Leiden-tradition of producing
critical editions of crucial Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman-Turkish manuscripts, as well as of compiling descriptive
catalogues of the manuscript holdings in Leiden University Library.

The Houtsma Foundation has the fiscal status of a formally recognized "non-profit organization".
The focus of its activities concerns the "Chair of Contemporary Islamic Thought" in Utrecht University,
endowed by the Foundation, and publishing scholarly materials relevant to the field of Islamic languages
and cultures.

The Foundation publishes texts which it deems of scholarly relevance, but which are unattractive to
commercial publishers. These are mainly bi- or multi-lingual texts, texts which are too short or too long to be
commercially viable, or texts which are of a polemical character.

If you have any questions regarding our publications or wish to explore the possibility of having your book
published by us, we invite you to get in touch - please see the
relevant web-page for our contact details.